Philippe, Duke of Vendôme

Philippe, Grand Prior of Vendôme (1655–1727) was a French general, a grand prior of France in the order of Malta, as well as an epicurian and a libertine.

He fought for Louis XIV from 1669, at the Siege of Candia, to 1705, at the Battle of Cassano, where he failed to join his brother Louis Joseph, Duke of Vendôme in battle. He fell in disgrace and left the French army. Being grand prior he hurried to Malta to defend it in 1715, but the Turks never came.

He spent time in Italy and was banned to Lyon when he returned. After Louis XIV's death the regent allowed him back to Paris and the court. The Grand Prior hosted a literary, philosophical, and libertine circle, known as the Temple Society, of which young Voltaire was a member. In 1719 he sold his office of Grand Prior and died unmarried in Paris in 1727.